STANDARDS:European CEN gets votes

The important CEN TC 278 DSRC Data Link layer standard has been approved. The voting result was 85% in favor, well over the required level for this to be binding on European Union members. Efforts to gain support for the standard last year just failed. The Italians were the major country holding out to the end against the standard which they say is a step backward in terms of capability.

The CEN standard is strongly supported by two of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronic toll equipment — Combitech and Amtech. Texas Instruments, Siemens and others have also said they will build to the standard. It is unclear whether it will spread far beyond Europe however. Japan and Korea have adopted an active time division multiplexing system (TDMA) that has strong but by no means overwhelming, support too in North America. Purchasers of equipment want assurance it will continue to be supported and favor interoperability with adjacent systems. On the supply side economies of scale help established companies, so the marketplace is producing a degree of movement toward standardization. Formal efforts at standard setting may be providing some additional momentum. At the ITS America conference there were lengthy reports on North American standards setting efforts but little of substance to report, except that the aim is still to get some “ballotable draft” by year’s end.